Spare wheel lock assembly

ABSTRACT

A spare wheel lock assembly adapted to be locked or unlocked with a key. The lock assembly functions as a conventional wing nut to hold a spare wheel on a hold-down bolt secured to the floor or a panel of a compartment. When in unlocked condition, the lock assembly can be installed by rotation in threaded engagement with the hold-down bolt. When in locked condition on the hold-down bolt, the lock assembly free wheels about the holddown bolt without axial movement.

United States Patent Reid et al.

[451 Apr. 2, 1974 SPARE WHEEL LOCK ASSEMBLY [75] Inventors: Robert V.Reid, Roseville; Charles 1 E. White, Allen Park, both of Mich. [731Assignee: Ford Motor Company, Dear born, Mich. v

[22] Filed: Mar. 15, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 341,648

[52] US. Cl. 70/231 [51] Int. Cl. F16b 41/00 [58] Field of Search70/221, 231, 232, 259,

[56] References Cited I UNlTED, STATES PATENTS 1,515,809 11/1924Eckenroad 70/221 1,629,015 5/1927 Axelson 70/231 1,645,917 10/1927Maszczyk 70/231 Raleigh 70/231 Heyer 70/259 Primary Examiner-Albert-G.Craig, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmJohn J. Roethel; Keith L.

Zerschling [57] ABSTRACT free wheels about the hold-down boltwithout-axial movement.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures azz eav PATENTED R 2 I974 SHEET 1 BF 2PAIENTEDAPR 21974 SHEET 2 0F 2 l SPARE WHEEL LOCK ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION Almost from the time that motor vehicles were equippedwith spare wheels, the wheels and the tires mounted thereon have been anattraction to thieves.

This was especially so in the days when the spare wheel was mounted onan exposed support or rack on the side or rear of the vehicle. The useof a free wheeling locking device for preventing removal of the sparewheel from the hold-down bolt was a recognized expedient. U.S. Pat. No.1,516,453 issued Nov. 18, 1924 to'G. H. Nichols for a Theft PreventingDevice disclosed the basic mechanism as comprising an imp-roved'form ofnut which may be threaded in place in the usual manner and then set by akey, so that if the body of the nut spare wheel and tire against theft.In recent years, however, tire thieves have developed much expertise inbreaking into luggage compartments and removing the spare wheel. Even ifthey run into a free wheeling locking device on the wheel hold-downbolt, they are usually equipped with vise grips, slam pullers and othersophisticated tools which permit a rapid destruction of the lockingdevice.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anupdated version of a spare wheel lock assembly of the free wheeling typewhich has features effective to slow down even a thief well equippedwith tools in any attempt to steal the spare wheel and tire mountedthereon. I

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION within the housing for locking the nut means tothe housing so that a predetermined twisting'force applied to thehousing-about the axis of the hold-down bolt will rotate and unthreadthe nut from the bolt. The housing is provided with reinforcing ribmeans positioned to resist a tool applied force to the housing forcrushing the latter and jamming the bolt therein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Further features and advantages of thepresentinvention will be made more apparent as this description proceeds,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the spare wheellock assembly embodying thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4'-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The spare wheel lock assembly,generally designated 11, comprises a die cast metal housing 12 having inplan and side elevation a generally rectangular body portion 13. Thisbody portion'13 at one end has a cylinnut member 22 having internalthreads 23. Near the bottom end the nut member 22has anexternalperipheral groove 24'. Except as will be described, the nut 22 is freelyrotatable within the chamber section 15. The nut 22 is held in thechamber section 15 by an elongated plate 25 which is positionedin anelongated slot 26 in the housing, the plate being inserted laterallyinto the housing slot 26 after the nut 22 is positioned in the chambersection 15. The plate 25 has a laterally extending slot 27 which fitsthe base diameter of the nut member groove 24. The plate 25 is held inplace by staking of the die cast metal of the housing 12 in a suitablenumber of places.

The nut member 22 is permitted a slight degree of axial float within thechamber section 15 to make it easier to thread onto a hold-down bolt asrepresented -by the threaded bolt portion 28 in FIG. 4. At its upper endthe nut member is capped by a washer 29, a compression spring 31 and anelastomeric anti-rattle bushing 32, the bushing being retained in thesmaller or upper section 18 of the cylindrical stepped chamber 14 by aflange 33. 1 v

The housing 12 has a substantially rectangular longitudinally extendingchamber 34 having lateral communication with the cylindrical chambersection 15 and the elongated plate receiving s1ot26. In effect, theplate 25 when in place provides a closure for the chamber 34 and asurface on which a slide bolt means 35is movable.

The slide bolt means 35 comprises an elongated bolt having a taperednose portion 36, a centrally positioned notch 37 and a recess 38receiving a compression spring 39.

The slide bolt means 35 is slidable from its solid outline position inFIG. 4 to the dotted outline position in which it is adapted to engagein either one of two diametrically opposite axially extending notches 41in the nut member 22, for a purpose to be explained.

The slide bolt means 35 is movable by a conventional key cylindermechanism 42 housed ina cylindrical extension 43, projecting from theside face 44 of the housing 12. The eccentric extension 45 of the.barrel 46 of the key cylinder mechanism engages the wall of the notch 37in the slide bolt means 35. It will be understood that the slide boltmeans 35 is spring urged (spring 39) toward the nut member 22 and thekey cylinder mechanism 42 is operable by the key 47 to retract the slidebolt means 35 against the force of the spring 39.

An important feature of the present invention is the provision ofreinforcing ribs on the exterior of the housing 12 in protectiverelationship to the chamber 14 in which the nut 22 is housed. The ribsinclude a central horizontal rib 48 extending from the cylindricalextension 43 housing the key cylinder mechanism 42. The rib 43 isangularly inclined toward the left end of the body portion 13 as bestseen in FIG. 1. On the key cylinder mechanism side of the lock assembly,which may be called the front side, vertical ribs 49 and 51 taperdownwardly and upwardly, respectively, from the horizontal rib 48. Onthe rear side dual vertical ribs 52 taper downwardly and upwardly from ahorizontal centrally positioned semi-circular rib 53.

Before explaining the function of the ribs, an additional otherstructural feature will be described. It is desirable that there be apredetermined frictional drag between the nut member 22 internalthreads23 and the threads of the hold-down bolt 28 so that when the nutmember 22 is freely rotatable relative to the housing 12, it cannot beremoved from the hold-down bolt 28 by finger manipulation. Thisfrictional relationship may be achieved by placing the nut member 22,during the manufacturing process, under enough pressure to deflect thethreaded hole into a slightly oval configuration at its midpoint.

Rotation of the housing is facilitated by projecting handles 54,although if desired a wrench may be applied to the nut-shaped appendage19 at the top of the housing 12.

OPERATION The application of the spare wheel lock assembly 11 to thetire hold-down bolt 28 is the same as the application of a conventionalwin g nut. In a conventional installation the hold-down bolt is securedto a luggage compartment floor or side panel and projects through thehub aperture of the spare wheel. It also projects through a hold-downplate, represented at 55 in FIG. 4, which usually is the jack base.

In order to thread the nut member 22 on the holddown bolt 28, it isnecessary to place the spare wheel lock assembly in unlocked condition.This means turning the key cylinder mechanism 42 to a position in whichthe eccentric 45 on the lock cylinder barrel 46 is moved to the dot anddash outline position in FIG.

'4 so that the spring 49 can drive the bolt means nose portion intoengagement with the nut member 22. If the nose portion 36 is not inalignment with a notch 41, rotation of the nut member 22, as will occurwhen it is attempted to thread the latter onto the bolt 28, will bring anotch 41 into alignment with the nose portion 36 and allow the latter tomove into rotation blocking position. In this condition the lockassembly is considered in unlocked condition because bodily rotation ofthe housing permits the nut to be threaded onto the hold-down bolt 28.

When the lock assembly 1 1 has been threaded on the hold-down bolt 28 asfar as it will go, manipulation of the key 47 to retract the lock boltmeans 35 from engagement with the nut member 22 places the assembly inunlocked or free wheeling condition. That is, the housing 12 will bespinable about the axis of the holddown bolt 28 but will not cause anyunthreading rotation of the nut member 22.

A tire thief attempting to steal a spare wheel held down by the lockassembly 1] will need more than a lug wrench. One technique would be touse a vise grip tool to apply pressure on the housing to crush thelatter and jam the nut member 22. The exterior reinforcing ribs49-51-51-53 make it extremely difficult to fit the vise grip on thehousing. Any attempt to apply pressure to the vise grip causes the jawsof the latter to slip off the inclined surfaces of the ribs.

Another technique would be the use of a slam puller to yank the lockassembly off the hold-down bolt. The reinforcing plate 25 distributesthe impact force to the housing 12 and resists the separation of thehousing from the nut member 22 contained therein.

And yet another technique for removing the lock assembly 11 would be todeflate the tire thus providing enough room to reach the nut 22 with thefingers or a small tool. It will be found, however, that theinterference fit between the nut member 22 threads and the hold-downbolt 28 threads built into the lock assembly is such that insufficientturning force can be finger or small tool applied to turn the nut offthe bolt.

Only by release of the bolt member 22 by operation of the key cylindermechanism 42 can the lock assembly be removed.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exactconstruction illustrated and described above, but that various changesand modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention defined by the following claims:

We claim: I. A spare wheel lock assembly for preventing removal of awheel from a hold-down bolt,

the lock assembly comprising a housing, nut means rotatably mountedwithin the housing for threaded engagement with a hold-down bolt,

reinforcing plate means carried by the housing in engagement with thenut to retain the latter in the housing and to prevent forceabledisplacement of the housing relative to the nut when the latter isthreaded on the hold-down bolt,

key operable bolt means slidable within the housing for locking the nutmeans to the housing whereby a predetermined twisting force applied tothe housing about the axis of the hold-down bolt will rotate andunthread the nut from the bolt,

and reinforcing rib means on the housing positioned to resist a toolapplied force to the housing for crushing the latter and jamming thebolt therein.

2. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 1, in which: i

the nut means has a substantially cylindrical body portion,

and the reinforcing plate means is a plate member having radialengagement with a peripheral groove in the nut body portion.

3. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 2, in which: A

the bolt means comprises a bolt member slidable radially of the nut bodyportion, a the nut body portion having a bolt receiving notch therein.4. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 3, in which:

the bolt means includes a spring interposed between the bolt member andhousing urging the bolt means radially toward the nut means, and a keycylinder means carried by the housing is operable to retract the boltmeans from the nut means and holds the bolt means out of engagement withthe nut means. 5. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 4, inwhich:

the reinforcing ribs on the housing are angularly positioned around achamber in which the nut means is rotatably positioned. 6. A spare wheellock assembly according to claim 1, in which:

the reinforcing ribs on the housing are angularly positioned around achamber in which the nut means is rotatably positioned. 7. A spare wheellock assembly according to claim 1, in which:

an elastomeric bushing member is interposed between the housing and thehold-down bolt to provide anti-rattle protection between the bolt andhousing.

8. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 1 in which:

a friction means between the bolt and nut threads holds the nut againstbeing unthreaded from the bolt other than by application of turningmanipulation of the housing.

9. A spare wheel lock assembly adapted to prevent removal of a wheelfrom a hold-down bolt,

the lock assembly comprising a housing having a cylindrical chamber atone end thereof with the chamber being open at both'ends,

a nutmember projecting axially into the chamber from one end of thelatter and being rotatable therein,

the housing having an elongated slot therein in which an elongated plateis positioned,

the plate lying in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of the nutmeans and having aportion thereof seated in a peripheral groove in thenut means to retain the .latter in the housing and to prevent forceableaxial displacement of the housing relative to the nut means when thelatter is threaded on the hold-down bolt,

. the housing having a substantially rectangular chamber in lateralcommunication with the cylindrical chamber and the elongated platereceiving slot,

bolt means slidable in the rectangular chamber on the plate intoengagement with the nut to lock the same to the housing whereby turningmovement of the housing about the axis of the hold-down bolt willunthread the nut from the bolt,

key cylinder means carried in a third chamber in the housing and engagedwith the bolt means for slid-,

ing the latter into and out of locking engagement with the nut means, I

and reinforcing rib means on the exterior of the housing in protectiverelationship tothe nut receiving chamber,

the rib means being positioned to resist the application of pressure bya tool for crushing the housing and jamming the nut therein. I

10. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 9, in which:

the bolt means includes a spring interposed between a slidable boltmember and an end wall of the rectangular chamber,

the spring urging the bolt member toward the nut means,

and the key cylinder means is operable to retract the bolt means fromthe nut means and hold the latter out of engagement with the nut meansagainst the spring.

1. A spare wheel lock assembly for preventing removal of a wheel from ahold-down bolt, the lock assembly comprising a housing, nut meansrotatably mounted within the housing for threaded engagement with ahold-down bolt, reinforcing plate means carried by the housing inengagement with the nut to retain the latter in the housing and toprevent forceable displacement of the housing relative to the nut whenthe latter is threaded on the hold-down bolt, key operable bolt meansslidable within the housing for locking the nut means to the housingwhereby a predetermined twisting force applied to the housing about theaxis of the hold-down bolt will rotate and unthread the nut from thebolt, and reinforcing rib means on the housing positioned to resist atool applied force to the housing for crushing the latter and jammingthe bolt therein.
 2. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim 1,in which: the nut means has a substantially cylindrical body portion,and the reinforcing plate means is a plate member having radialengagement with a peripheral groove in the nut body portion.
 3. A sparewheel lock assembly according to claim 2, in which: the bolt meanscomprises a bolt member slidable radially of the nut body portion, thenut body portion having a bolt receiving notch therein.
 4. A spare wheellock assembly according to claim 3, in which: the bolt means includes aspring interposed between the bolt member and housing urging the boltmeans radially toward the nut means, and a key cylinder means carried bythe housing is operable to retract the bolt means from the nut means andholds the bolt means out of engagement with the nut means.
 5. A sparewheel lock assembly according to claim 4, in which: the reinforcing ribson the housing are angularly positioned around a chamber in which thenut means is rotatably positioned.
 6. A spare wheel lock assemblyaccording to claim 1, in which: the reinforcing ribs on the housing areangularly positioned around a chamber in which the nut means isrotatably positioned.
 7. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim1, in which: an elastomeric bushing member is interposed between thehousing and the hold-down bolt to provide anti-rattle protection betweenthe bolt and housing.
 8. A spare wheel lock assembly according to claim1, in which: a friction means between the bolt and nut threads holds thenut against being unthreaded from the bolt other than by application ofturning manipulation of the housing.
 9. A spare wheel lock assemblyadapted to prevent removal of a wheel from a hold-down bolt, the lockassembly comprising a housing having a cylindrical chamber at one endthereof with the chamber being open at both ends, a nut memberprojecting axially into the chamber from one end of the latter and beingrotatable therein, the housing having an elongated slot therein in whichan elongated plate is positioned, the plate lying in a plane normal tothe axis of rotation of the nut means and having a portion thereofseated in a peripheral groove in the nut means to retain the latter inthe housing and to prevent forceable axial displacement of the housingrelative to the nut means when the latter is threaded on the hold-downbolt, the housing having a substantially rectangular chamber in lateralcommunication with the cylindrical chamber and the Elongated platereceiving slot, bolt means slidable in the rectangular chamber on theplate into engagement with the nut to lock the same to the housingwhereby turning movement of the housing about the axis of the hold-downbolt will unthread the nut from the bolt, key cylinder means carried ina third chamber in the housing and engaged with the bolt means forsliding the latter into and out of locking engagement with the nutmeans, and reinforcing rib means on the exterior of the housing inprotective relationship to the nut receiving chamber, the rib meansbeing positioned to resist the application of pressure by a tool forcrushing the housing and jamming the nut therein.
 10. A spare wheel lockassembly according to claim 9, in which: the bolt means includes aspring interposed between a slidable bolt member and an end wall of therectangular chamber, the spring urging the bolt member toward the nutmeans, and the key cylinder means is operable to retract the bolt meansfrom the nut means and hold the latter out of engagement with the nutmeans against the spring.